Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Maine Senators Break With Republican Party on Stimulus
My previous post was concerned with decentralization and how it can impede effective partisan action. The current debate in the Senate over the president’s stimulus package is no exception. In this article we see two republican senators who have broken from the Republican Party and voted yes for the bill. They may be voting against other senators in their own party, but when asked why, they reply that they are doing what the people of Maine elected them to do.
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That was a really good article representing decentralization. I think Senators Snowe and Collins, along with Senator Specter of Pennsylvania hold the keys to the President's agenda. Both parties have become so ideologically divided, I think, despite his efforts, it is going to be really hard for President Obama to win significant Republican support for any hot button domestic issues. He may have an easier time on foreign policy.
ReplyDeleteMitch McConnell was right when he argued that, "I think it is safe to say that Republicans in the Northeast are not exactly the same as Republicans in the Deep South[.]" This is similar to what was discussed in the text and lecture. The majority of Republicans remaining in the Senate hail from either strongly Republican or swing states, so it is going to be a challenge for Obama to get a lot passed without the support of either of Maine's senators. A few years ago Obama could have probably built more bipartisan support and would not have had to rely so heavily on Collins and Snowe(before moderates like Lincoln Chaffee, John Sununu, or Mike DeWine got whacked), but now Democrats have such a great advantage, there is nowhere else he can go.
I think that's a good example of the current state of the U.S. political system. For politicians the first goal is to win and hold power, and if these Republican senators feel their constituents want them to pass the stimulus package, it's vital to their reelection that they please their voters. Otherwise, they simply will not be reelected, and will not be able to form any policy. Politicians are bigger than parties, as not all members of these large parties are going to have the exact same views on every issue. The article is also an obvious example of different factions among a single party
ReplyDeleteI agree, politicans are WAY bigger than parties. And I think it is vital that they are. If every politian belived and did everything that there designated party wanted them to do. Nothing would ever get done. Things would be set in limbo at all times. We need the few Mavericks(yep, i said maverick, not proud)to stand up for what the voters want not what the partys want. I works out, look at the governor of California.
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